


Tantalus and the Life Felt Deeply

by nonky



Category: Nancy Drew (TV 2019)
Genre: F/M, Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:00:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23595733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonky/pseuds/nonky
Summary: The weird moments of ghosts and emergencies pushed them into a concentrated heat. The sparse conversation and witty rapport rode on the heavy readiness of bodies exchanging signals. Getting Nancy Drew bare underneath him was probably Owen's most impressive negotiation. He'd studied for it as hard as any class in school.Spoilers up to 1x17, from Owen's POV. Warning for sexual content, mentions of canon violence.Obviously linked to Tantalus and the Lover's Fears, but AU for the secret of Nancy's parentage. The show fooled me with the Agleaca, and I'm not sure where they're going with the curse. I really did think she would have confided in Owen.
Relationships: Nancy Drew/Owen Marvin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16
Collections: Nancy Drew TV Series (2019)





	Tantalus and the Life Felt Deeply

Owen Marvin knew he fit a cliche. He was a successful businessman type, young and good-looking. He seemed slick and perhaps a little Teflon for most people upon meeting him. He was all clean edges, fresh haircut styled, t-shirt pressed and smile professionally broad. He represented his family, and no one man could do that without appearing just a little inhumanly perfect. 

The Marvins were far from perfect, though his stipulation when he signed up to run the company was to keep inside the lines of the law. He was realistic. There would be a day his morals slipped, and he did something a little shady. The job would require a little soiling of his neat suit and he tried to be ready for that moment. It wouldn't be the first time a Marvin did something wrong, or the last. 

But he also believed there was a intrinsic need to have a few secrets. He could uphold most of his actions, and explain himself and his motivations. They were primarily solid, if a little predictable. His role was to respect Diana and the shared assets that gave him the shining start on a privileged life. Money mattered, and so did reputations. 

With women, Owen was even more aware of how he came across. He was secure and it could look like arrogance. He had escaped any old shyness, but the direct approach rarely led organically to expressing romantic interest. He knew to keep a few casual meetings before any big gestures. He knew asking too many questions – even when he really wanted to know a woman – was creepy. His move was subtlety.

Nancy Drew didn't respond to subtlety. She barely registered anything except his biggest swing for a home run, and Owen had wondered if he just wasn't her type. Her boundaries were ironclad, frosted over like the chilly looks she could deliver when someone tread on her privacy like she famously did to everyone she met. 

If she wasn't so damn charming about it, he'd think she wasn't a good person. There was always a good cause underneath the odd favour or the very personal question. She was self-aware of her own image. Nancy was precocious, seeking knowledge above and beyond what polite company allowed. She was going to pry and pry again. It wasn't about spreading gossip or loving drama. She had her own secrets and chose to collect more. Once those secrets pointed to wrongs, she would strip away the polished excuses everyone could offer up for why they did what they did. No one ever thought of themselves as the villain of the piece, any more than Nancy thought of herself as the heroine. The definition was too stifling for a real person to breathe inside. 

Having Nancy notice him was more satisfying than whole relationships he'd had when he was younger. She was easily intrigued, but never shallow. A crumb of shared information from Nancy Drew felt like a year of confidences from a girlfriend with fewer walls around her inner drives. 

Hers was the first move, a sudden impulsive rush to stroke his hair and tip him down to meet her lips for a searing moment. Owen had wanted more by then, and Nancy confirming it wasn't a one way simmer of physical tension was a unique temptation. She seemed to have a million things to do, even more than his hectic moments. Her focus getting tangled on her fingers sneaking under his collar meant something real was at hand. 

The weird moments of ghosts and emergencies pushed them into a concentrated heat. The sparse conversation and witty rapport rode on the heavy readiness of bodies exchanging signals. Getting Nancy Drew bare underneath him was probably Owen's most impressive negotiation. He'd studied for it as hard as any class in school. 

He had taken his time and held back in every motion, savouring her like she deserved. He couldn't even point to a particularly seductive moment to break them. It had been the moment. Nancy's quiet moans had carried him from her mouth down, palms to limbs and angling hips linked. Owen had stripped her to find curves of soft pink delicacy, strawberry blonde everything carrying over the flavour of summer with the crisp fall air marking their time.

He'd been so used to wanting her without being sure he could show it too overtly. The age difference gave him an edge he used to guide her into shapes that fit around him better. Her lack of social graces didn't slow her down in bed. She could curl and enfold him in slim legs not quite long enough, her hips riding his stubble. The absolute clarity of Nancy's gaze turned to him for a full burning night, her blue eyes open to watch as Owen tested her with damp fingertips. She'd pulled him into position and he followed her lead blindly. The blunt start of cock inside her swelled into an overpowered sense of something real animated. He came with the barest thought to protection they hadn't discussed. Nancy hadn't needed his secrets to unravel him. He'd sprawled across her and let their shared quaking be the sentiment they needed.

The second night was different. There was a fight in her she couldn't put down to come to him gently. Owen slid from his bed and skipped kissing her. He sank to the floor and pulled down her jeans until he could press his tongue slick to her pussy, coaxing Nancy to kink his neck and smother him with it. The key to enjoying it was to go all in, and he liked it inside her. 

She warmed and he could have stopped, but it was important to be humble in the presence of perfection. The privacy and mood made them flawless together, and he was beginning to see years of potential. Nancy's hips had taken on the sway of his tongue, some of her shell giving way to a heart he wanted. Owen wasn't sure he could claim it, but he wanted to be the one she allowed near enough to try. He gasped disappointment when she swung back on her heels. She had been fathoms deep in her own pleasure. His face was washed with it, and Owen wiped it away carelessly. 

Together they got her down to skin and him out of his boxers. He found a condom before the pivotal moment. One time was careless, and every time was a decision they didn't have enough shared nights to make fairly. He watched her grind tight down his cock, lips still untouched. One longing denied was fuel for a roughness. Nancy worked her body like pain and exhaustion were myths. She braced fists on his chest and laid him flat. He cupped her hips and enjoyed being taken rather helplessly. 

Afterwards, she put on her shirt and panties. Owen knew it was a signal of boundaries replaced carefully. He let Nancy spoon to him, his arms ready for her but never closing all the way around. She wasn't a woman to be fooled by cuddling, or won over with the occasional show of letting himself be topped. 

He was beginning to worry when she was still clinging to fake sleep late into the next day. Getting her to New York would be a good start to breaking them from Horseshoe Bay's crime spree of poisonings and long-cold cases solved by a certain young waitress. Owen was happy she was willing to go along with it on no details. Nancy's trust felt fragile, and he wanted to keep it. Fresh off the revelations of Lucy Sable's tragedy because she'd fallen for a rich man's son, he wouldn't blame her for wanting to rethink dating a Marvin. He didn't want them to be Romeo and Juliet. He was partial to The Tempest, because Ferdinand and Miranda did okay falling in love in the midst of sea sprites, monsters and wizards.

He went through his day knowing there was something he was forgetting, distracted with various party guests and helping Bess's surprises find their way into the house. The next time he saw Nancy she was entering the party with a guilty self-consciousness. Her mood wasn't right yet, but it had less anger and more of an edge of working through a problem.

She was not only underdressed, but had a little mud flecked on the backs of her jeans and could have used a comb. Owen was glad to see her anyway. He left her to mingle with the promise they would both make up for the quick kiss he had needed all day. The trip to New York was planned, and he knew Diana had too many Marvin relations gathered to pick on him for sneaking Nancy away without all the niceties. 

He had gone upstairs to pack a bag, unwary when he was literally gutted. The towels in the guest room were too far away, and he'd fallen into the tub with his hands across his wound. It was only once he was too weak to do anything he realized he'd broken his promise to Nancy. The bag of charmed herbs wasn't around his neck. It had been in the way as he showered, and Owen could picture it hanging off his shampoo. 

She'll find me, he thought. She'll come looking for me any minute. She doesn't need to be seen sipping champagne with celebrity guests.

He closed his eyes to the certainty of it. Nancy would be the one to find him, her hands jamming towels to his body and yelling his name to wake him up. She saved people all the time, and Owen really thought she was looking forward to New York just to be alone with him for a few days. He'd have to make it up to her once he was patched up and she'd brought his attacker to heel the way only Nancy Drew could. 

He'd been a little too sure of himself that day, but it wouldn't matter. Owen went under even more sure of Nancy, almost content with it as his pain dulled.


End file.
